While the morning session was somewhat underwhelming after West Indies opted to bowl, the team staged an impressive fightback, taking four wickets and restricting India to 288/4 by the end of Thursday’s play.
“We were a little bit disappointed that we didn’t pick up a wicket or two till lunch but then we did well to get four wickets,” Benjamin said after the end of day’s play on Thursday.”Hopefully, tomorrow (Friday) we will have a chance to start with the new ball if we do, we hope to get a couple of breakthroughs and get ourselves back into the game,” he added.
Rohit Sharma‘s elegant 80 and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s composed 57 provided India with an ideal start, as they combined for a formidable 139-run partnership.
However, the momentum shifted in the afternoon when West Indies dismissed the two openers, Shubman Gill (10) and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (8), causing a temporary lull in run-scoring.
Fortunately, India’s captain Virat Kohli (87 not out) and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (36 not out) stepped up to the occasion. Their unbeaten partnership of 106 runs put India back on track, setting the stage for a strong finish.
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“Kudos to Virat and Jadeja. They played very well, they are experienced. Virat is a very special player and the two took that session away from us, but overall it was a satisfying day.”
Kohli, playing his 500th Test, is 13 runs shy of his first hundred in an overseas Test since December 2018.
“If he is threatening (to score a century), then he will have to work for it, we will not hand it to him,” Benjamin said.
During the second session, West Indies bowled with a well-defined plan and a clear purpose.
Benjamim, who is a former West Indies pacer, is optimistic that the bowlers can spearhead a comeback for the home side.
“We have our plans for each batter, we hope our bowlers can stick to those plans, be patient. With Kohli and Jadeja, they will not make it easy for us so we have to work really hard, so we hope bowlers can execute,” Benjamin said.
(With agency inputs)
